Carson County, Texas · Panhandle
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Carson County averages 20 nights a year at 20°F or colder, mostly December to February, and 51% of its homes predate 1960.
Basements flood here mostly in June. Carson County averages 4.2 days a year with an inch of rain or more.
Sewage backups in Carson County spike on heavy-rain days, about 4.2 a year, when sewer mains fill up and water finds the lowest drain.
Roof leaks here come from summer downpours and, with about 86 freeze-thaw days a year, from winter ice dams. Most show up as ceiling stains in the room below.
2% of occupied homes in Carson County heat mainly with wood or propane, below the Texas county median of 6.5%.
With 63 muggy nights a year, mold in Carson County can appear within days of a leak. Dry first, then clean.
Local risk profile
With 2,810 homes and around 5,801 residents, Carson County is 920 square miles of northern Texas. Panhandle is the county seat; White Deer, Groom and Skellytown are the next largest communities. It has some of the oldest housing in the state: the median home went up in 1959.
64/100 Water Damage Risk Index: Elevated Carson County ranks 18 of 232 Texas counties. See the statewide ranking and method.The three factors where Carson County ranks highest compared with other Texas counties.
Carson County gets more hard-freeze nights than most of Texas. In the 2015–2024 record the county logged about 20 nights a year at or below 20°F (17th of 232) and 92 below freezing. Twenty degrees is roughly where uninsulated pipes start to freeze.
The longest cold spell was straight 10 days without the temperature rising above freezing, ending in February 2021. The coldest night reached about -8°F on February 15, 2021. Burst pipes usually show up when a spell like that breaks and the ice thaws.
The freeze season here runs December to February, with January the coldest. If you travel then, leave the thermostat at 55°F or above and open sink cabinets on outside walls.
Freezing nights typically start around Nov 1 and end around Apr 3.
Carson gets fewer downpours than most Texas counties, but they still fill basements. About 4.2 days a year bring an inch or more (185th of 232), most often in June, out of 21.6 inches of total precipitation. On October 22, 2015, 2.75 inches fell in a single day. The worst three-day stretch dropped 4.43 inches, ending October 4, 2019, the kind of soaking that overwhelms sump pumps and storm sewers.
About 86 days a year swing from below freezing at night to above freezing by day. Those freeze-thaw cycles feed ice dams on roofs, open cracks in foundations and driveways, and stress pipes that are already marginal.
Housing
76% of homes in Carson County predate 1980, above the Texas county median of 45.8%, which ranks 11th of Texas's 232 counties.
51% were built before 1960. Homes from that era often still have galvanized steel supply pipe, which rusts from the inside until it pinholes, and cast iron drains that crack with age. Slow leaks behind walls are a common start to water damage in these houses.
9% of homes are manufactured or mobile homes, below the Texas county median of 13.4%. Their water lines run under the floor behind the skirting, so a torn skirt or failed heat tape freezes them faster than lines in a site-built house.
Beyond water
Summer nights that don't drop below 65°F, a good marker of humid air, come about 63 times a year here, below the Texas county median of 129. Keep indoor humidity under 60%, as the EPA advises, and dry any leak within 24 to 48 hours; in a humid month a wet basement left alone won't dry by itself.
Mold remediation: what to expectBy main heating fuel, Carson County homes break down as 66% utility gas, 32% electric, 1% propane and under 1% wood. Most homes here heat with gas or electricity, so cooking and electrical faults are the likelier fire sources. Even a contained kitchen fire can send soot through the ductwork to every room.
Fire and smoke cleanup: first stepsCoverage
Calls connect to restoration companies that work across Carson County. The largest communities by population:
Population from ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates. Townships and unincorporated areas are covered too.
Nearby
Moore and Potter get more pipe-freeze nights than Carson. Its housing is the oldest in the area by share of homes built before 1980.
By the numbers
| Factor | Carson | Texas median | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes built before 1960 | 51% | 20% | 3 of 232 |
| Homes built before 1980 | 76% | 46% | 11 of 232 |
| Homes built 2000 or later | 8.3% | 26% | 219 of 232 |
| Manufactured or mobile homes | 8.5% | 13% | 171 of 232 |
| Vacant homes | 18% | 17% | 90 of 232 |
| Wood or propane heat | 2% | 6.5% | 204 of 232 |
| Nights at 20°F or colder | 20/yr | 3/yr | 17 of 232 |
| Days with 1 inch+ of rain | 4.2/yr | 7.8/yr | 185 of 232 |
| Freeze-thaw days | 86/yr | 27/yr | 19 of 232 |
| Muggy nights (65°F+) | 63/yr | 129/yr | 213 of 232 |
Rank 1 is the highest value. Bars run from the lowest to the highest Texas county; the tick marks the median; orange means higher water damage risk than the median, green means lower.
Questions
Peak risk months in Carson County: freezing from December to February, heavy rain in June, August and October.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024 5-year estimates (2020-2024); weather from NOAA nClimGrid-Daily county averages (EpiNOAA), 2015–2024, averaged across the county; county boundaries from Census TIGER. Reviewed 2026-10-21. Methodology